TERRAFORMING TERRA
We discuss and comment on the role agriculture will play in the containment of the CO2 problem and address protocols for terraforming the planet Earth.
A model farm template is imagined as the central methodology. A broad range of timely science news and other topics of interest are commented on.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Wind Power Flies High in Japan

A startling outcome of the great
Japanese earthquake is the public relations collapse of nuclear energy and the
mirrored public relations coup won by wind energy.Wind energy was totally unaffected even in
small detail and can now operate full out to step into the present production
shortfall.

It is also likely to materially
expand to make up the production shortfall brought on by the forced closure of Fukushima, simply because
it can do so quickly.That is always
beyond the capability of large power plants whether nuclear, coal, or even
geothermal.

The take home lesson from Fukushima is that large
central power plants are terribly vulnerable to a single event.

We have also learned that
facilities not designed to withstand a once in a thousand year event has a
40/1000 chance of disaster over a forty year lifespan.A .04 chance is significantly more serious
and likely that a .001 chance.That
tsunami was predictable as are similar tsunamis anywhere along the ring of
fire.

That is was not properly designed
for is another example of expediency overriding good engineering sense by decision
makers who knew they would likely never be around to answer to it all.

As the world collectively holds its breath to see how the Fukushima crisis plays
out (the quote of the day has got to be: "The
worst-case scenario doesn't bear mentioning and the best-case scenario keeps
getting worse...") there's a positive story which is not yet being
reported.

Despite assertions by its detractors that wind energy would not survive an
earthquake or tsunami the Japanese wind industry is still functioning and
helping to keep the lights on during the Fuksuhima crisis.

Colleagues and I have been directly corresponding with Yoshinori Ueda
leader of the International Committee of the Japan Wind Power Association &
Japan Wind Energy Association, and according to Ueda there has been no wind
facility damage reported by any association members, from either the earthquake
or the tsunami. Even the Kamisu semi-offshore wind farm, located about 300km
from the epicenter of the quake, survived. Its anti-earthquake "battle
proof design" came through with flying colors.

Mr. Ueda confirms that most Japanese wind turbines are fully
operational. Indeed, he says that electric companies have asked wind farm
owners to step up operations as much as possible in order to make up for
shortages in the eastern part of the country:

Eurus Energy Japan
says that 174.9MW with eight wind farms (64% of their total capacity with 11
wind farms in eastern part of Japan)
are in operation now. The residual three wind farms (Kamaishi 42.9MW,
Takinekoshirai 46MW, Satomi 10.02MW) are stopped due to the grid failure caused
by the earthquake and Tsunami. Satomi is to re-start operations in a few days.
Kamaishi is notorious for tsunami disaster, but this wind farm is safe because
it is locate in the mountains about 900m high from sea level.

The largest wind farm operator in Japan, Eurus Energy with about 22% of
all wind turbines in Japan, is a subsidiary of Tokyo Electric Company (TEPCO)
which operates the Fukushima nuclear facility. Right now, it is likely the
company is very happy about its diversified portfolio:

While shares in the Tokyo
stock market have fallen during the crisis, the stock price of Japan Wind
Development Co. Ltd. has risen from 31,500 yen on 11 March to 47,800 yen on 16
March.

Wind turbine in Yokohama, JapanPhoto: shibuya246If
Japan's wind turbines were to get a new theme song, it would be Wagner's
"Ride of the
Valkyries", and it would ring out from the hills upon which they stand
triumphantly, unscathed by the the country's earthquake/tsunami double whammy,
lifting their skinny, still-turning blades like
antennas to heaven.

While Japan's
water-dependent nuclear power plants suck and wheeze and spew radioactive
steam, "there has been no wind facility damage reported by any [Japan Wind
Energy Association] members, from either the earthquake or the
tsunami," says
association head Yoshinori Ueda.

Even the country's totally badass Kamisu
offshore wind farm, with its giant 2 MW turbines with blades big
as the wings on a jumbo jet, and only 186 miles from the epicenter of the
largest quake ever recorded in Japan, survived without a hiccup thanks to its
"battle proof design." As a result, the nation's electric companies
have asked all of its wind farms to increase power production to maximum, in
order to make up for the shortfalls brought about by the failure of certain
other aging, non-resilient 20th-century technologies.

Unlike conventional power plants, wind turbines don't have to be
situated close to sources of water (always a liability), and their simplicity
means fewer potential points of failure.

Bonus: when they break down, no one has to give
their life to keep them from turning one of the world's most densely
populated countries into a radioactive hellscape!

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18 years old, having cleaned out my HS library, I concluded the only ambition worth having was becoming a great genius. An inner voice cheered. Yet it is my path I have shared much to the Human Gesalt. Mar 2017 - 4.56 Mil Pg Views, March 2013 - Posted my paper introducing CLOUD COSMOLOGY & NEUTRAL NEUTRINO described as the SPACE TIME PENDULUM. Sep 2010 -My essay titled A NEW METRIC WITH APPLICATIONS TO PHYSICS AND SOLVING CERTAIN HIGHER ORDERED DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS has been published in Physics Essays(AIP) June 2010 quarterly. 40 years ago I took an honors degree in applied mathematics from the University of Waterloo. My interest was Relativity and my last year there saw me complete a 900 level course under Hanno Rund on his work in Relativity. I continued researching new ideas and knowledge since that time and I have prepared a book for publication titled Paradigms Shift. I maintain my blog as a day book and research tool to retain data, record impressions, interpretations and to introduce new insights to readers.